Putin Claims Russia Has No Hard Feelings Against The US

Although barely a day goes by without a media source or U.S. elected official talking about Russia’s antipathy toward America and its efforts to meddle in national elections, Russian President Vladimir Putin used a call-in show Thursday to insist there is no enmity directed at the U.S.

Once a year, Russia’s state-run TV hosts a show called Direct Line with the President, in which Putin answers supposedly random calls from Russian citizens.

This year, Putin responded to questions about the United States and its relationship with Russia,

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“We have been through two wars together,” Putin said, according to NBC News. “The Russian Empire was key in securing U.S. independence.

Putin has labeled American speculation of Russian meddling a story created by the American media and disaffected politicians, and continued on that theme Thursday.

“There is hysteria in the media and it affects the mood, but many people in Russia admire the achievements of the American people, and I hope relations will normalize,” he said.

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Putin waved off discussions of new sanctions being put in place against Russia for activities Putin has repeatedly alleged never happened, despite claims from U.S. agencies that Russia sought to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

“We have always lived under sanctions, whenever Russia grew stronger there would always be sanctions, throughout history,” he said. “There is a U.S. bill to toughen sanctions — why?”

“Nothing has changed why are they talking about sanctions — it’s evidence of domestic political problems in the U.S.,” he added.

The U.S. Senate passed a new round of sanctions against Russia on Monday. Sanctions would affect Russians who violate human rights or supply weapons to the Assad regime in Syria, as well as those who are involved in the Russian defense and intelligence industry. In addition, the sanctions target Russia’s mining, shipping and railway industries.

Putin did note that there were positives to the American sanctions, saying “we had to switch our brains on” and that the electronics, aerospace and agriculture industries benefited from the economic ramifications of U.S. sanctions.